Hamlet Potpourri
What is the false story spread around about King Hamlet's death?
What is that he died of a poisonous snake bite
What warning does Laertes give to Ophelia before he goes to France?
Beware of Hamlet's affections
How does Hamlet react when Ophelia gives him back letters he wrote to her?
He denies that he wrote them
How was King Claudius related/acquainted with Gertrude before they married?
Brother-in-law/sister-in-law
Who was the first death and how did the person die?
Polonius, while spying on Hamlet and Gertrude. Hamlet stabs him through a curtain, thinking he is Claudius.
What is Polonius' primary concern about Ophelia's relationship with Hamlet?
What is that Ophelia is naive and inexperienced, and when the relationship inevitably ends, it will make Polonius look bad.
What does Hamlet do with Ophelia in her closet?
Confront Ophelia, grab her wrists, stare into her eyes, and walk away?
Name one of the possibilities of what Hamlet is pondering when he asks "to be, or not to be?"
Death, love, revenge, loyalty.
Who does King Claudius eavesdrop upon with Polonius?
Ophelia and Hamlet
The object that Claudius puts in Hamlet's cup in Act 5
A pearl of poison
What does the ghost ask of Hamlet with regard to how he enacts revenge against Claudius?
What is don't hurt Gertrude and don't taint his own mind
Where does Hamlet tell Ophelia to go, and what is the inherent double entendre of this term?
"Get thee to a nunnery." It can mean the literal convent or the slang expression of a brothel.
What is Hamlet's plan with the actors' play?
To prove that King Claudius is guilty of King Hamlet's murder.
Why it is ironic that Claudius encourages Hamlet's participation in the Mousetrap play within a play?
The play is designed to elicit a guilty reaction from Claudius
How did Claudius die?
Hamlet kills him with a poison-tipped sword.
What is the best literary device to reflect that only Hamlet, the ghost, the audience, and eventually Horatio know how King Hamlet really died?
What is dramatic irony?
What is Queen Gertrude's reaction to the idea of Hamlet loving Ophelia? (She tells this to Ophelia)
She approves and gives it her blessing
How does Hamlet feel about killing Polonius?
He feels justified, because Polonius has been meddlesome and nosy.
How does King Claudius react while watching The Mousetrap? (specifically)
He jumps out of his chair and runs away
Who was the last person to die?
Hamlet
In Hamlet's most famous soliloquy, "To be or not to be..." what is the meaning of Hamlet's statement that death is "the undiscovered country from whose bourn / no traveler returns"?
What is people fear death because it is the great unknown and once someone dies, they cannot return to report back on its realities.
Why did Shakespeare have Hamlet ruminate on his "to be or not to be" soliloquy right before he confronts Ophelia?
Because Hamlet has been pontificating about issues of life and death, he is extra moody and harsh when he encounters Ophelia
What choice does Hamlet ultimately make at the end of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy?
He chooses neither life nor death, but by choosing not to act, he chooses life by default
An argument for why Claudius was a complex character
He ruthlessly tries to hang on to power, at the expense of almost everyone around him. However, he expresses some remorse when he finally admits to killing King Hamlet, but he only does so while praying.
What was the last thing Ophelia said before she died?
"God a' mercy on his soul. And of all Christians' souls, I pray God. God be with you."